China Telecom to extend into UK market; Apple announce China plans for iPhone 4S

Lee Bell
January 4, 2012
2 Comments

china telecomChina’s third-largest wireless carrier, China Telecom, announced today a new consumer mobile service in the UK – its first outside the mainland – which will be in partnership with Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between French group Orange and Dutch company T-Mobile with the “silly” name.

The deal means that the Chinese carrier will operate the service, including customer and billing management, while on network infrastructure owned by the two UK operators.

In a report by Bloomberg, Neil Juggins, a Hong Kong-based analyst with JI Asia Research, said setting up a mobile virtual network will help China Telecom compete on international roaming rates with China United.

However, according to the Financial Times, the UK is just the start. The telecommunications provider plans to expand into more European markets, such as Germany and France, after starting its first wireless service offering in the U.K. In the Bloomberg report, Liu Changhai, the executive responsible for regional development, said “Our target customers are the Chinese communities. We are exploring a new market compared with our competitors from China.”

In October Everything Everywhere reported a 1.4 decline in customers year-on-year. Will this new deal prove a lucrative one for the brand with the worse name in marketing history?

In related news, Apple’s latest iPhone – the 4S – will go on sale in china earlier than expected – 10 days earlier in fact. In a statement today, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, said: “Customer response to our products in China has been off the charts. With the launch in China next week, iPhone 4S will be available in over 90 countries, making this our fastest iPhone rollout ever.”

The phone will also go on sale across 21 other countries, including Ecuador, Jamaica and Kenya.

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Tags: Apple iPhone, Article, China, China Telecom, everything everywhere
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